LG B6 OLED TV Review

The LG OLED B6 has an impressive design with a very thin screen, metallic finished back and clear stand. Unlike the E6, there is no large sound bar but instead speakers built into the main body of the TV. 

The stand has quite a small footprint but still feels very stable. It is made of clear plastic, similar to the EG9600.

The rear of the TV is a metallic gray. This works well to reduce fingerprints and appears high end. If wall mounted the stand can be removed but the inputs directed out the back of the TV may be difficult to access.

The borders are very thin and feature a metallic edge.

The max thickness is measured at the bottom half of the TV. From a side profile, it looks very similar to the E6. However unlike the E6, there is nothing protruding from the back and so the TV is thinner and appears more flush with the wall.

Like the other OLED panels, the light is emitted from the pixels themselves and are individually turned off when a true black picture is displayed. This is resulting in a infinite contrast ratio.

For reference, we took a video of our local dimming test.

The SDR peak brightness of the B6 is almost the same as the LG C6 and the LG E6. Overall SDR peak brightness is average, but for highlight smaller than 25%, it has good result around 400cd/m². Anything beyond 25% of the whole screen gets dimmed by the ABL (Automatic Brightness Limiter), and this affect the final score, making it an average performer when compare to any similar priced, LED TVs.

The peak brightness for the LG B6 is fairly good. It is quite similar in performance to the higher end LG E6. This level of brightness mixed with an infinite contrast ratio will make HDR content look amazing. Unfortunately the Automatic Brightness Limiter (ABL) causes the fullscreen brightness to be very low, and it may not be enough to combat glare in bright rooms.

Like the other OLED TVs tested before, the gray uniformity is better than LED TVs, but still isn't 100% perfect. On this picture you can see that the left and right side of the image are more bright and there is also a large band just right of the center that is a bit warmer. That said, the gray uniformity of the LG B6 is still very good and should not cause the dirty screen effect when watching sport like hockey or football. This may vary depending on the individual unit.

On the LG B6P, the image retention is still problematic. When an static image is present on screen for a long time, it will leave a imprint on screen until some normal video content is play. Usually after 5 or 10 mins, the faint ghost image should go away. Gamer should be aware of this inconvenient.

The viewing angle of the LG B6P is very good and you will have a relatively good picture even if you sit at a wide angle. You will notice a change in the tint when viewed from the side.

Since no light at all is produced by the individual pixel when a perfectly black picture is displayed, the black uniformity is flawless.

The LG B6P is using an 10 bit panel and color are reproduce very effectively. The gradation is very good and smooth, but there is still some little imperfection in the darker color, but should not be visible when watching movies or regular TV programs.

Even before calibration, the results are quite good.

The calibration is straightforward, and was able to fix the imperfections out of the box.

The B6 does a very good job at upscaling DVD. Straight lines don't look choppy at all.

Cable TV is upscaled very well and you can still make out relatively small details.

Blu-ray movies are upscaled to 4k resolution without any problems and it looks very sharp.

4k content look sharp and very small details are easy to notice. A slight blue tint is noticeable, but only when comparing side by side with another TV having a different screen finish.

Wide color gamut is enabled automatically when the TV detects a HDR signal. The wide color gamut is about the same as the LG E6.

Update 10/13/2016: We remeasured the color gamut, and have updated the result.

The B6 has one of the best color volume performances of all 2016 models. It is able to cover most of the P3 color volume and produce saturated colors even at low luminance.

The LG B6 does have some image retention, but it differs a bit from what an IPS panel would show. Unlike LED TVs, on an OLED TV the image retention looks more like a photo negative, where the brightly exposed part of the screen now looks darker than the rest. When looking at the test picture of our 15% gray pattern the left part of the picture where the white section was is clearly darker than the right side which was black.

Even after 10 minutes, some faint retention remains, but this does go away after some more normal TV viewing. In a case where the retention lasts longer the LG OLED TVs do have some internal testing/fixing programs to fix retention problem and after running this program, any retention that would not be fixed by watching normal content usually goes away. We are not aware of any image retention being permanent on any OLED TVs that we have tested yet.

The screen coating on the B6P does a great job at dealing with reflections. It results in a purple tint as visible in the image, but this helps to reduce the intensity of the reflections.

Unlike the LG E6, the LG B6 does not support any type of 3D.

As with other OLED TVs, the response time is excellent and so no trail can be seen following the logo. The backlight is flicker-free. Some people may prefer a flickering backlight instead. Motion blur is non-existent. For low frame rate content this lack of motion blur can be jarring, especially for panning scenes.

The B6 doesn't flicker, and there are no options to enable a flicker. This means that despite the fast response time, images may appear slightly blurrier than other TVs.

To play 24p source material without judder, you need to activate 'RealCinema' option under 'Setting'→'Picture options'. Although inconsistent, for 60p and 60i sources set 'Trumotion' to user and set 'De-Judder' and 'De-Blur' to 0 to remove judder. It wasn't consistent enough for us to consider a pass though.

The B6 is a native 120Hz display, and can interpolate 60Hz and 30Hz content. To enable motion interpolation, set 'Trumotion' to 'User'. For a 30fps source increase 'De-Judder' and for a 60fps source increase 'De-Blur'. Note that this may introduce artifacts.

The 1080p input lag of the B6P is average and will disappoint the more professional gamers out there who need fast reflexes. To get the lowest input lag, set the input icon to 'Game Console' and change to the 'Game' picture mode. This results in 43.2 ms input lag with a 4k @ 60Hz input and 44.4ms input lag with a 1080p @ 60Hz input. With interpolation, there is 62.6 ms input lag.

It is important to note here that from the get-go, our set always had an input lag a bit higher than what other sources were reporting for this specific TV model, so some of this may be due to differences between individual sets.

Update 11/07/2016: The input lag results have been updated with the newest firmware update 04.30.40, but the results remain largely unchanged. Note that the HDR input lag still cycles, which may be an issue for gamers. A video showing the cycling can be seen here, and a full table of the results can be found below. We will continue to update these results with any further firmware updates.

Note that ranges of numbers show the variance in the cycle of the result.

Update 11/08/2016: Some owners have started a petition to LG to address these issues. This can be found here.

After some more testing we have found that none of the LG TVs support chroma 4:4:4 when in a HDR picture mode, regardless of the input icon. This can be seen here .

Update 01/05/2017: With the newest firmware update (04.30.77) the input lag has been reduced across all resolutions. A 'HDR Game' picture mode has been added, and the input lag no longer cycles over time. The results above have been updated.

Update 02/07/2017: Note that in the 'HDR Game' picture mode there is some screen tearing in the bottom 1/4inch of the display. This does not affect the other picture modes.

Update 03/06/2017: Retested the B6 with the latest firmware update (04.31.10) and the screen tearing issue in 'HDR Game' picture mode is now fixed. Input lag remained the same as with the previous update

To enable Chroma 4:4:4 support, first go in the 'General' menu, then enable 'HDMI ULTRA Deep Color' for the HDMI port that you are using. After, change the input icon to PC in the 'All inputs' menu, accessible thru the remote input button. Under PC mode, the input lag is 70.9 ms at 4k.

On the LG B6P, when a Bluetooth device is connected, the 'Game' picture mode is unavailable.

Very good frequency response, for a TV, especially at lower volumes. Lowend cutoff of 90Hz and maximum loudness of 87.6dB are not great, but decent. However, at higher volumes, some pumping and compression may be present. Also, it won't be able to produces the punch and low-end thump that external speaker/sub systems are able to produce.

Poor performance. The amount of total harmonic distortion at 75dB is excellent. However, there is a noticeable rise in the amount of harmonic distortion under heavier load, especially at maximum volume, where it could be audible is certain situations.

The most popular applications such as YouTube, Netflix and Amazon Video come pre installed, and the 'LG Content Store' is well supported by a range of publishers.

The B6 features WebOS 3.0, which provides a very responsive interface and is easy to use. Popular applications such as YouTube, Netflix and Amazon Video come pre-loaded and the 'LG Content Store' provides a wide range of applications to extend the viewing experience. The number of available applications is increasing all the time. The remote is similar to the EG9600 and provides a pointer for easy navigation.

The controls are located on the front of the TV, under the LG logo. This is easily accessible when wall mounted. This image is shown with the stand removed.

The remote is much smaller than the E6, and is the same as the UH8500. Although it looks less premium than the E6, the smaller size is more comfortable to use. It features a pointer controlled by the remote movements to navigate menus. Although there is a 3D button, the TV does not have the feature.

• Remote
• Batteries
• Component in adapter
• Composite in adapter
• Cable management tie
• Manual